Stage Review - The Aliens (White Rabbits, Inc.)
Stage Review - The Aliens
Presented By: White Rabbits, Inc. - Seattle, WA
Show Run: May 02 - May 16, 2026
Date Reviewed: Friday, May 08, 2026 (Closing Weekend)
Run Time: 2 Hours (including a 15-minute intermission)
Reviewed by: Doug Knoop
The premise of Annie Baker’s 2010 award-winning play seems innocent enough at first. Two young men hangout behind a Vermont coffeehouse. When a third young man (a coffeehouse employee) comes out back, he is reluctantly drawn into their conversation. Worlds collide, fish out of water stuff, right?
What directors Benjamin McFadden and Lindsay Welliber have done with this premise is astounding. Weaving together music and silence, humor and heartbreak, we slowly get to understand these three characters and the world they inhabit. As we’re drawn in, we’re asked to look at nothing less than the state of mental health of the male species.
Jasper and KJ are friends who spend their time discussing all the world’s problems. Jasper is a writer who chain smokes and is constantly in motion around the small set, while KJ is much more chill, staring off into the distance and repeating words that sound funny to him. Danny Jones plays Jasper as all twitchy and nervous, masking some hidden demons. Nik Doner’s KJ turns out to be the most centered of the trio, trying to keep everyone in line.
Evan, the high school aged coffeehouse employee, brings a nerdy naïveté into the mix. Conor Craggan’s performance is a subtle study in contrasts, going from innocence to devastation during the course of the evening.
Robin Macartney’s set design is plain and simple, and fits the small space perfectly. A special shout out to Sumer Munroe and Nik Doner’s lighting/sound design. The fireworks sequence set on the Fourth of July, is quietly beautiful and emotional and summarizes this play perfectly.
Annie Baker’s play The Aliens isn't just a quiet examination of loneliness, connection, and masculinity, but the care with which this production approaches those themes. Directors Benjamin McFadden and Lindsay Welliver have assembled a deeply committed cast and design team, who together create a piece that feels intimate, compassionate, and painfully honest about the emotional isolation so many men experience. That honesty extends beyond the stage through White Rabbits Inc, the producing organization behind the show, which donates 100% of its profits to causes connected to the themes of its productions. In the case of The Aliens, proceeds support the Face It Foundation and its work surrounding men’s mental health, making this production not only an affecting night of theatre, but one with a tangible purpose beyond the final blackout.
The White Rabbits, Inc. production of The Aliens by Annie Baker runs on stage at Seattle Open Arts Place through May 16. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://nikdoner.com/white-rabbits-inc.
Photo credit: Giao Nguyen
